8/24/2005

Naval Station Pascagoula to be Closed

With 9 nine hands raised in unison, the BRAC commission wiped away 1,700 jobs and voted to close Naval Station Pascagoula which is located in Mississippi. Just a couple of years ago, new housing was built in the area to accommodate Naval personnel and their families. I am not surprised by the decision though. There were only three ships homeported there.

"This comes closest to a no-brainer we'll face in the next couple of days," said commissioner Harold Gehman, who was the only member of the panel to speak about the station.

Gehman called it "a wonderful, essentially brand new naval station" but said "this is in excess of what the Navy needs."

The action will relocate Naval Station Pascagoula's ships, personnel and support to Naval Station Mayport in Florida. Intermediate repair function would move as well.SunHerald

It was a lost cause trying to keep it. Even the commander of the station said it needed to be closed when the BRAC recommendations first came out. What I cannot understand, is why it was built in the first place if the Navy doesn't consider it to have any strategic value?

My deepest concern has always been for Keesler Medical Center and the recommendation that it be turned into an outpatient clinic. A previous post highlighted a flaw that had been made in calculations concerning the medical center and raised it's standing considerably. Brian Martin, a staff member for Representative Gene Taylor, discovered it.